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'Zefirino' screening set

Posted February 14, 2008; 11:21 a.m.

by Staff

"Zefirino: The Voice of a Castrato," an award-winning documentary about a senior thesis performance by 2004 Princeton graduate Anthony Roth Costanzo, will be screened at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 19, in 10 East Pyne.

The film demonstrates how Costanzo assembled a remarkable production to portray the lives of the castrati, male singers in 18th-century Italy who were castrated before puberty to maintain their soprano singing voices. Costanzo conceived of, co-wrote, produced and starred in the production, titled "The Double Life of Zefirino," as his senior thesis project.

The performance, which included Costanzo singing six 18th-century arias, had costumes designed by acclaimed film director James Ivory, sets created in Milan and two professional dancers who helped convey the story of the castrati.

The film won a 2007 director's choice award at the international Black Maria Film and Video Festival. Filmmaker Gerardo Puglia directed and photographed the 23-minute film, which took two years to make. It was produced by Gaetana Marrone-Puglia, a Princeton professor of French and Italian who taught Costanzo. Wendy Heller, associate professor of music, was his thesis adviser.